The West Virginia Mountaineers suffered their third consecutive loss to begin Big 12 Conference play, falling to 2-4 (0-3). The 38-24 loss to BYU was characterized not only by an inefficient offense once again for the Mountaineers, but a defense that gave up numerous explosive plays to a BYU offense that largely did what they wanted to in the victory.
West Virginia did not force BYU to punt until under the two minute mark in the 4th quarter. The Mountaineers' defense struggled from start to finish, though the Cougars hurt themselves with three turnovers.
“If you limit a lot of the explosives, I think this is a different football game. A lot of the touchdowns came off explosives. You can’t play great defense and give up a bunch of explosives," said WVU linebacker Chase Wilson.
Chase Wilson is right. BYU’s offensive game plan was clear from the beginning, and they wanted to attack the WVU secondary through the air. Just how right was Chase Wilson? Let’s see how many explosive plays this Mountaineer defense surrendered and the impact they had on the game.
1st Quarter
1. 47-yard pass by Bear Bachmeier
After a West Virginia three-and-out on the opening drive of the game, the Cougars quickly got into scoring position for their opening possession. Bear Bachmeier completed a deep pass to Chase Roberts for 47 yards on the very first play for the offense. Though this drive resulted in a missed field goal, BYU’s intention was clear from the start, and that was to get vertical in the passing game.
2. 54-yard touchdown pass by Bear Bachmeier
Late in the first quarter, Bear Bachmeier completed a pass to Parker Kingston, who turned it into a 54-yard touchdown on a 3rd & 7 from the BYU 46.
2nd Quarter
3. 85-yard pass by Bear Bachmeier
After a WVU punt to pin the Cougars deep inside their own territory, they wasted no time flipping the field. Bachmeier found Roberts again, this time for 85 yards, setting the offense up inside the WVU 5-yard line and an LJ Martin rushing touchdown. From their own 11-yard line, BYU scored a touchdown in two plays.
4. 35-yard pass by Bear Bachmeier
5. 20-yard pass by Bear Bachmeier
6. 14-yard run by Bear Bachmeier
West Virginia cut the BYU lead to 21-10 after a brilliant defensive play by Fred Perry set the Mountaineer offense up with the football at the BYU three-yard line. On the ensuing possession, BYU executed a two-minute drill to end the first half that featured Bachmeier finding Parker Kingston for a 35-yard completion and Cody Hagen for a 20-yard completion, and also adding a 14-yard run that set up a fourth-down conversion one play later. This allowed BYU to take a 28-10 lead into halftime.
3rd Quarter
While BYU’s opening drive of the second half wasn’t comprised of explosive plays, it sure was gut-wrenching to West Virginia. A 15-play, eight-minute drive that featured a fake field goal to convert a first down, followed by an eventual 37-yard field goal to give the Cougars a 21-point lead and consumed over half of the 3rd quarter clock.
4th Quarter
7. 21-yard pass by Bear Bachmeier
8. 20-yard pass by Bear Bachmeier
9. 13-yard run by Bear Bachmeier
BYU’s final score of the game came at the 8:50 mark of the 4th quarter. This 12-play, 75-yard drive featured gains of 21 yards and 20 yards through the air, and a 13-yard run by Bear Bachmeier on a 1st & 20.
10. 32-yard run by LJ Martin
Adding insult to injury with the game out of reach, the Cougars proved they could keep gaining chunk plays all night if the game wasn't soon coming to an end by letting LJ Martn bust open for a 32-yard run before kneeling the clock out.
For a West Virginia defense that has struggled immensely in Big 12 play, the explosive plays for BYU were the biggest difference maker in the loss to the Cougars. That's an issue that will need fixed moving forward if WVU wants to get their season back on track after a bye week..